Through the Shattered Glass
by StargateNerd
Summary: Aoko meets an interesting girl who might possibly be cursed. (Entry for the second Prompt Exchange over at Poirot Cafe)


**A/N:** So this is my entry for Poirot Cafe's second Prompt Exchange, my prompt being "A DC character and an MK character meet randomly and end up trying to out do each other in a fight to see who has the more difficult life". Originally I was going to do Sonoko and Keiko meeting each other online and arguing over whose RL ship (ShinRan and KaiAo respectively) will actually happen, etc. but it just wasn't working (if someone else wants to write that tho go ahead!).

This takes place some time before the Holmes London arc so Shinichi hasn't told Ran he loves her yet.

The title is a reference to Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass", since Ran and Aoko's character designs are mirrors/expies of each other :P Aoko and Ran are too nice to each other to really fight though so it ended up being more like the two of them complaining to each other about their lives ^^; Feel free to view this through AoRan glasses bc those are the best glasses :3

 **Word Count:** 1,520 (ahahahaha this got waaaaaaaay out of control also the ending is kinda meh)

* * *

Aoko had been up for 29 hours now, having pulled an all nighter to finish her English essay because _someone_ had the bright idea to use her notes in part of a trick that involved paper airplanes.

 _Exploding_ paper airplanes.

Kaito had apologized profusely after she made it clear just how much work she'd put into those notes and just how angry she was, but that didn't change the fact that she'd had to start mostly from scratch on an assignment that was due in two days when she had other homework to do. Math was easy enough but so many questions still took time to answer.

She'd gone into the kitchen for some soothing hot cocoa when she saw her father had left his bento on the counter, and he couldn't work half as well and maybe unearth some clue to finally catch that idiot Kaitou KID if he wasn't thinking straight because of hunger, now could he? So with a sigh, Aoko had resigned herself to not going to bed for a few more hours and instead bring her father a late lunch.

So of course when she gets to the station she finds that her father is out at the moment and "Oh I'm sure he'll be back soon, why don't you sit down and wait for him?" As grumpy as she is, sitting sounds good right now, and at some point she nods off.

She's unsure how long she dozes for but she wakes to see a girl her own age sitting in the chair next to her. Aoko blinks, both from sleep and confusion, because the girl right next to her looks quite similar to her, though her hair is not so messy, her face is rounder, and her eyes are a bit lighter. In Aoko's just-woken mind, there is only one conclusion to be drawn.

"Go away Bakaito," she huffs, turning away from who she's sure is her friend in disguise.

"I'm sorry?" Kaito-in-disguise says and he really is a very good actor, he sounds genuinely surprised.

"Look, Aoko knows it's you," she says. "Aoko's not sure why you'd choose to disguise yourself as some weird older version of her, but it's not at all appreciated!"

"I'm sorry, I think you have me confused with someone else," Kaito-in-disguise tries to convince her, gesturing softly with a nervous smile.

"Don't think you've fooled me!" Aoko growls and grabs Kaito's cheeks and tugs hard to tear his mask off.

"Ow ow ow!" hisses the very real girl who is not actually Kaito and oh no what has Aoko done?

"I'm so sorry!" she gasps, letting go of the girl's face as though it burns her. "I'm so so sorry, I thought you were my friend-!" She cuts herself off, eyes wide. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the girl assures her, rubbing at her red cheeks. "I do karate so I've had worse."

"Still, Aoko's really sorry," Aoko says rather miserably.

"It's fine, really," the girl says and she has such a kind smile that gives her a sort of serene beauty. "That's a weird friend you have though, if you thought they were disguising as you."

Aoko blushes. "Bakaito's always pulling stupid stunts like that. One time he rigged this UFO balloon to rise when he fell out of the classroom window."

The girl blinks rapidly, visibly taken aback. "I... see. Does he do that... often?"

"Usually he just does stupid magic tricks," Aoko sighs. "He's very good, he just doesn't have a sense of when it's appropriate, you know?"

The girl laughs, brushing hair behind her ear. "Oh, I know how that is. My friend Shinichi, he's obsessed with mysteries, _especially_ Sherlock Holmes."

"Really?" Aoko chuckles. "My classmate Hakuba-kun, he's from England and he's shown up to school once or twice in a Sherlock Holmes _costume._ "

"Deerstalker and everything?" the girl giggles. Aoko nods with a grin and the two of them can't talk for another moment for laughing.

"I'm Mouri Ran," the girl introduces herself with a giggly smile and Aoko smiles back.

"Nakamori Aoko," she replies. "I'm waiting for my dad to get back from wherever so I can give him his lunch."

"Nakamori... as in the head of the Kaitou KID Task Force?" Ran asks and Aoko nods, ready to defend her father's honor in a second if need be. Luckily Ran is as nice as she seems as she adds, "My family goes to KID heists sometimes. Your dad is very determined."

Aoko grins viciously and puffs her chest out. "He sure is! He's going to catch that stupid Kaitou KID and put that idiot thief behind bars!"

Ran smiles. "Conan-kun could probably help when he's older." At Aoko's inquisitive look she elaborates. "Conan-kun is... well, not exactly my brother. He's staying with me and my dad. Sonoko's uncle, Jirokichi-san, calls him the KID Killer?"

Aoko's eyes widen. "You live with the KID Killer? Wow!" Her eyes practically sparkle. "If he and otou-san and Hakuba-kun all worked together to catch KID, no way he could escape that! Conan-kun, he must be a genius of some kind, right?"

Ran's smile grows a little strained. "He reads a lot and watches some strange TV shows. Actually, Shinichi taught him a lot of what he knows."

"That must be nice, him having a mentor like that," Aoko says with a smile.

"I guess," Ran mumbles, eyes downcast.

Aoko frowns. "You guess?"

"It's just... well, a few months ago Shinichi sort of disappeared. Then Conan-kun showed up and he says he shares practically everything with his "Shinichi-niichan" but..." Ran bites at her bottom lip before looking at Aoko, her eyes filled with worry. "Shinichi and I have been friends since we were little kids. Before Conan-kun showed up I'd never heard of him, and now he talks to Shinichi more than I do and..." She blows out a soft breath. "I'm probably just jealous, I mean, we don't tell each other everything, but I would think he'd tell me if he had somebody who was practically like a little brother, you know?"

Aoko nods. "Sure."

"And that's not all!" Ran looks away, the parts of her face that Aoko hadn't pinched just as red as the rest of it. "They share _everything_ , and the other day I remembered that the night I met Conan-kun I told him that I _liked_ Shinichi and it's been _months_ since then and I just-!"

"I get it," Aoko says when it's apparent Ran is too embarrassed to say anymore. "I kinda... well, I've known Kaito a long time, and we've been through a lot together. One day he came to class and just told me that he loved me, that he was _in_ love with me. Then the next day he acted like he had no memory of it at all!"

"That's awful," Ran says with a frown, her fists clenching, and Aoko remembers that Ran had said she did karate.

"He's very immature," Aoko agrees. "But I still... well, I still like him, even when he does stupid things like accusing Akako-chan of being a witch."

"Huh?" Ran asks.

Aoko rolls her eyes. "He claims our classmate is a witch who tried to curse him into becoming her slave. Sure she is ridiculously pretty, but a witch?" She scoffs, shaking her head with a fond smile.

"Riight," Ran says with a nervous smile.

"So what are you doing here?" Aoko asks.

"Getting some paperwork for my dad. He's home sick so I figured I may as well," Ran says with a shrug and a smile. "I didn't even run into any murder cases on the way here, which was nice."

...there's something very wrong with that sentence. "Do you run into them… often?" Aoko asks, slightly concerned.

"More often than I'd like," Ran admits. "Usually it only happens if I'm with otou-san or Conan-kun, but sometimes it's just regular cases like a kidnapping or a robbery I come across."

"Right," Aoko says, internally going _Holy fucking SHIT._ "And how often would you say is "more often than you'd like"?"

"A lot more often than I'd like," Ran says, her hands and fingers twisting together in interesting ways. "Usually at least weekly."

" _Weekly?_ " Aoko's voice is somewhat high pitched and the looks she gets from people at nearby desks reminds her that this is a police station. "Weekly?" she repeats in a lower, more incredulous tone. "Ran-san, that is _not_ normal!"

"You think I don't know that?" Ran hisses back. "It's not even like Beika has a high crime rate; most of it just seems to happen around us!"

Aoko swallows, privately grateful because sure, Kaito's tricks may be super annoying, and Hakuba-kun's accusations may grate on her nerves sometimes, but at least she doesn't have to deal with a weekly murder mystery.

...Maybe she should check with Akako-chan herself, just to make absolutely sure that her classmate isn't actually a witch. And if she is, well maybe she possibly knows how to remove curses because Ran-san is really really nice.

Aoko thinks they could be good friends.


End file.
